One arrested in drug bust

July 26, 2012

STEUBENVILLE - One man was arrested and four others taken to the Jefferson County Jail early today after City Police found heroin. scales and a safe at a public housing apartment in the 500 block of South Fifth Street.

Police were called shortly after midnight about a group of men playing dice and refusing an order from a security guard to leave.

Police reported a group of men quickly walked into an apartment at the complex when officers arrived. An officer found a loaded gun in a trash can outside the apartment. Officers repeatedly knocked on the door, but the men inside refused to answer the door. Police reported they could see the men inside peeking out through the curtains.

A resident of the apartment arrived and told the men to get out of her apartment. Police reported the men were all taken into custody. The men gave names to police but officers reported their identities couldn't be confirmed.

Torrance Lyda, 20, of 484 S. Sixth St. was identified and active probation and parole violations out of Jefferson County Common Pleas Court and Illinois were discovered. He was arrested on those warrants and a charge of falsification.

The resident of the apartment allowed officers to search the inside. An officer found 34 packages of heroin in a cereal box. Ammunition, scales and a safe also were found inside, police reported. The resident denied knowledge of the items being inside her apartment.

Lyda and the other four men, whom police believe are from Chicago, were taken to the county jail.

Police Chief William McCafferty said officers wanted jailers to fingerprint the men and take photos that could be used for identifying the men.

The men were released from the jail without police being notified.

Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla couldn't be reached for comment.

Lyda was being held without bond.

Lyda pleaded guilty in January to carrying a concealed weapon and receiving stolen property, and was sentenced by Jefferson County Common Pleas Judge Joseph Bruzzese Jr. to two years of probation. Adult probation filed a probation violation in March.